Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
it's s
on the phone pleasure to welcome to the program tonight i will send
contributor writer with salon in in these times has a uh... new peace out in
the nation magazine this month
uh... josh welcome to the program
thank you
so josh uh... some background on these wildcat strikes uh...
over the past scalpel weeks now
yeah they really aren't can plot line for the computer medicare were needed
it's been a changes strike in walmart supply chain going back to june
in june we thought workers
whose supplied a wal-mart going straight to the
seafood company in september we fell warehouse workers were moving goods for
wal-mart
and not let up too
totally store strike that week scheme of last week in the week before by retail
workers
who are directly employed by wal-mart
which is also the consequence of organising that's been going on bill for
over a year by this group are wal-mart organizing retail workers which is
closely tied united food and commercial workers
so the combination of
that long-term organizing and inspiration from the other workers from
supply chain
led to the first
it affected
strikes by baltic wal-mart retail worker the multiple stores
in fifty years of war rich history
well and selling out uh... powerball
that's nicotine addicts union right
right with the group that doesn't make it up at the union isn't dinka
recognition at the union is quote because i feel in supported by the
united food and commercial workers union
identified as uh... worker group something that the increasingly common
in the united states giving how terrible labor law has become
impact
you're going to leave in the first group like that tried to organize a wal-mart
the u_s_ cdw any quarantine if you're you
gordon another group like the collector
determined at the prison
into an inordinate effectively no that under in sixty retail workers
went on strike
answer when i was
well i know i know
implications of this are are pretty large because wal-mart employees in this
is this is uh... an astonishing figure tell me if i've got this wrong
one percent of the amak skin
uh... workforce is that right
betting right one point four million people
are correctly employed by wal-mart that doesn't count workers like
the people in workers in the warehouse workers
whose jobs depend on what martin conditions really dictated by what one
point four million people
get their paycheck from walmart
i would start with like uh... the supply chain way to save the date the strikes
have been going on for awhile how does the ball
influence the supply chain working conditions so much
so i reported critical of the report by the national employment model project
you daughter cathy record shop spoke author of the report told me
every year
wal-mart dictate feature that suppliers
that day needn't too
do the framework
for cheaper
and to make type in the cockpit it reaches the point where
labor is the only thing keeping power
and i should tell a reporter i'd be alex came to this report everything to
walmart rebuttal four pages long with calm if in fact
do you read each of the so-called mid-term report and what we offer you a
fact that button actually contradict with the report said and reports
findings at different systematic in walmart supply chain were wal-mart
is the one at the end of the supply chain the workers are getting we'd is
backed up by other groups the fact that natural got worker alliance
their lead organizer who was involved in the stray cats
ecpi jpm said
even if you had a really ethical
person running one of the suppliers
interest hidden actually an option economically
treat your workers welcome and the dictates from walmart in were wal-mart
one too
it heavily involved but some of the work out the critical issues
imported from walmart on the premises every single day watching what's going
on
when there are problems so
wal-mart disclaimed any kind of responsibility so the
is are basically like uh...
acquittal until a call leave alone subsidies of law
all markets is that there is a
uh...
there's and not arms-length here
to essentially um...
create some lack of liability i guess both the sort of legally but also sort
of uh... i guess that i want to morally but no morally and in terms of just
everything that's involved
often their labor relations
that improperly apac i mean take the example of how we don't know if the
warehouse workers bear extra that is
more working largest distribution center in the united states this building is
totally owned by wal-mart
seventy percent of what mark imports
protrude into one bill dated
but the workers but they don't work for wal-mart they work for the company roman
and then that company has no other business on the then to supply wal-mart
at that location ali doing supplying warmer okay
and walmart they try to have it both ways and so for example their workers
said
they had wages stolen
they had retaliation they had unsafe working conditions
wal-mart told me that they did their own inspections and that they can do issues
of those facilities
but at the frame of a great day
it cannot be they issued without because we're not meet people's employer
and let me ask you this now walmart's
a business model
relies so happily on this low-cost labor
intern also relies so heavily on government largesse
in the form of
healthcare i mean uh... wal-mart famously has like uh... seminars on how
to get government assistance while you're working a lot more right
right wall art and have been reported on previous encouraging workers get on
public assistance
there is every reason then those workers shouldn't get public assistance because
bear are they are the working poor but *** shameful is at walmart had to do
this model it's based on
keeping people in poverty
right and and
is essentially u
using this uh... the existence of
move assistance
war of the working poor
part of their business model right i mean this is we are subsidizing and it's
not like a happenstance thing i mean
this obviously is a strategic decision by while
we can deliver
are we can increase our
are url revenue
by hiring low-cost workers who will be effective
more affective if we make sure that they are on government assistance are so that
in it maintains their productivity and so that we see are not considered sort
of sweatshops i guess i mean this is all
part of their strategy
impacting their wouldn't an attempt to europe ago in a few state depression law
and
that would help build companies like wal-mart
for the caught the public at the time
those movement on foreign pick that paul and have in many of the efforts to hold
wal-mart accountable
f wal-mart had intimate moment all about
retail workers in poverty
suppliers and poverty
in using aggressive union-busting weekend screening of employees
then they get harder for people to ordinance in do something about the
condition in kentucky at that
tremendous wealth
that the walmart at walton family picture so
sense i mean unmatched in this is something that made a one needs to get
to write a doctoral thesis on but
the relationship between
i mean look you've got an entity that employees
one percent of the american public and that is that it just it's just stunning
not including the alike you say the um... the
uh... the supply chain
what impact does what wal-mart have on the
or i should say lucrative phrase it this way
which which came first which is the agony chicken here in terms of lake erie
i would imagine what wal-mart does is it creates a model for other businesses it
also in the real world uh... depresses wages uh... and uh...
did business didn't this
business model developed around the fact that they sell off the ability of just
how low they can hire labor and which which came first is it what what what is
the the dynamic there
well i think they're going back in court and it won't work and who leave a key
mission or economic player them
mac dollar recently recorded making capitalism that the federal open market
committee of the fed had constantly according to a transcript
and now been relieved company didn't want to wal-mart
to find out ahead of time between the economy cutting based on
what is going on in walmart stores
but more weeks
is that the whole trip where even if you didn't have a union
having united shock in your industry would force the standard up for
everybody in many ways into preceded by the opposite red repeatedly you know
supermarket smaller who brag
about how
their pay they pay is better than you know if you've got market
you can quibble with the tactics but the reality is
wal-mart absolutely have been successful in holding the standard standalone even
in the places where people have union and holding the standard filled in the
larger comedy because they are
such a large gorilla
it not that they report by the way to run a business a company like oxo isn't
perfect
delivered to their shareholders and his delivered to their customers in part
because
invest more in their workers and that paid off in terms of productivity and in
terms of their lower turnover cost
but wal-mart effectively they're a little over a way of doing business
tremendous
political support in legal backup
and you keep spread
and so let's let's talk about this our wal-mart and one of the implications of
houck how common is is this
uh...
that the presence of organizing
of labor organizations that are not unions and what does it allow them to do
that a union could not deal
but the people really friend i played havoc picture in the american prospect
on the have next month
because of how bad labor law is so pretty apologetics vinyl records
professor
in nineteen ninety-two tried to count the number of
organizations that are union leather
organizing immobilized and workers
she found fire
now she fine two hundred seventy
in narrowly
and in the middle head these organization somewhat more freedom in
terms of
boycotting other companies in the supply chain because they aren't restricting
the same way but tightly
they also are able
dorgan aid workers who are excluded by one estimate ten years ago congress
failed
twenty two percent of the work force is just excluded from collective bargaining
indicate they want more info
erie so much happier around communication date on the company's
record based on principle the story in canada that was flat out shut down the
afterwork recruited for reunion
i think that's made it easier to get in the door with corporate start the
conversation
now what we did that wal-mart has responded
much info at one p not just because it's backed by a
our union but because
they don't want workers organizing for leverage whatever label you put on
unsealing still ad for a couple
active audience meetings where workers on the clock
are forced opinion leading india lectured to
about why they should be involved in our wal-mart
but clearly
yes model so far at this program please get the results going on strike at the
very scary very hard thing to do it specially against wal-mart
workers have gone
so
what our woman who's been doing fell far it's working
and so uh... what's happening now in terms of the strikes and and and
are there i think that a continuing to be spreading across the country
how does it at one of the mechanics of these we're not talking about a lot of
people here right but we're talking about four different incidences that are
breaking out uh... across the country
were killed by we're talking about about one hundred ten thousand warmer treat
your workers
uh... film that became
it won't work i had
but first kind of escalation that happened among the retail workers was
from
workers
for one day going on strike just in southern california
to back eighty eight workers in twelve dates going on strike for two days last
week
now
the challenge having been in organizing the challenge one key people often pick
my parents were when you do next to keep the pressure on he can come to fight
so what the wal-mart workers in the down is
if given the company you know tomato through rupert
dot firing indeed clinton talked about
so if they were retaliation for active in the loop
now when you get them it's life before you go any further in terms of their
automated
what what has taken place to those people who have
as they have gone on strike for a day or have been um...
have been uh... someway organized
approved the workers who went out on strike
so far there aren't any report of retaliation against them
over the year prior workers who did things like
deck together a group of workers to confront a manager added humor take
something on in their workplace or speak to their co-workers mapping the mountain
or walmart
there dozens of cases
where are wal-mart is alleging that those workers were fired or were given
write-ups or discriminated against
encoder central command of the stripes was
not even about
condition the people who improved with about the retaliation against the people
who have spoken about improving the conditions
and that is now the federal demand that our wal-mart it's making between now and
black writer
that in order to avert a much bigger action on black friday leafing wal-mart
needs reverse that retaliation now of course it once you get a guarantee of no
more retaliation right
and wants dairies of
some level of confidence on the part of the workers is that there won't be
retaliation
they are more apt to take more and more action
and that's why i think what no one can really know
what will be wal-mart calculus
about retaliation there
docking in post reported a memo that went out to all the salaried management
in walmart
and telling them to follow the law
what we don't know it at the opera region
out various wal mart is about it until workers who worked at the company and
scholars watched the company had told me
they don't think the lock is gonna decide how much warmer talents we think
wal-mart is making a populace about
if we come after people if we bring down the hammer
if you're going to inflame even more workers to go out on strike or can we
successfully
freaky activism and people so terrified
everything goes back to normal now when we say while we're talking about the
neighbor
national labor
relations act right which uh... in would prohibit them from
retaliating theoretically
whether or not you have a union impact union workers i'm throwing away their
right go out on strike during the contract
incumbent nonunion workers
abduct wrong or right on the books
not individually but collectively
to walk off the job without being punished
the question is
what will wal-mart ginkgo walmart go along with the law
and if they do it we can all be because of the media pressured because the
threat of more workers getting involved
where will they tried it the practice
but color black friday
the workers say it wal-mart cake not
okay opera tally but refers
eric elliott and if that happened before
that they will have more people out on strike l_d_ partnering with groups like
the national organization of women twenty-foot wall of our customers
it got a plaster watchmen
and that will make it
and very memorable black friday for wal-mart
now have for those who don't know black friday is called black friday it's the
day after thanksgiving it's call black friday because
this is the day
most retailers out of this case wal-mart per se but
most retailers are actually move into the black for the year they may call
their money essentially from thanksgiving to christmas uh...
that's where they start to make their profits
over the course of the year and so any type of disruption
on black friday could have
serious implications for
or wal-mart's year right
at prep director for the workers you'd better wal-mart currently made a ton of
money people can look at that it was going to bring people to work
that permanently at the moment boulder body for the company both in terms of
their bottom line
in terms of their brand mid-week the every year you know what they're even
the people who labor protest
the median fascinated by black friday shot you always turn the t_v_ actor
thanksgiving and you watched the lines of people outside of the stories for
that box
over there at the potential for that to be something
quite special and net drug quite a bit of attention
i think there's any chance that walmart will have bad often say okay we're gonna
amin what would happen if walmart said
we're going to
reverse are retaliation and uh... you guys are all set don't worry about a
thing
what what happens then i mean is that in some ways is that more to cut the
challenge
and i discussed but either way right because now have you embolden workers or
have you basically made their a campaign fizzled
well inc
that victory brings its own challenges
for that to happen to anybody and walmart would never admit to retaliate
in rate they would just say they've looked back at these people record would
give them another chance or whatever else
if you actually get wal-mart to blink
that would be
ask for their historic development in the totally historic eureka strength but
i think that would involve in more workers it would not solve the problem
of poverty at wal-mart
victory at yale
harvey milk that you got to give people hope it if you actually got warmer to
back down in that significant in their high-profile away i don't think it's an
important work to do
but i think that would send a signal set
probably wanted like beaver silent majority of wal-mart workers who have
how do you think though that she got a job but
haven't yet decided it's worked sticking their necks out
either outside groups that are uh... that are
typing about
used some type of solidarity actions with um...
with the wal-mart workers in the event that
there is an action plan for
black friday i mean i imagine
you know uh... i would imagine
yeah i can imagine like uh... some occupied groups or uh...
others you know
it's pretty easy to do
clog up the cyst
whom i would think i am black friday you know uh... just
i'm gonna just be first in line that go along marta on that friday morning in
and is gonna take my own sweet time through that door
you know of course i'm gonna be wearing them
armor body armor because i get trampled but uh...
is anything like that happening
you don't mind the potential for interacting actions like that
immediately fallen he won
uh... dreaded didn't pick up really got me into to back down by threatening to
have people occupy all of the bathroom all the bathroom stalls at o'hare
airport
before writing with the flights were going to active in when i was an
organizer in that hotel and restaurant industry their actions people didn't
wear community allies we just
he during rush hour in a restaurant in just drink water and not order anything
other than toast
it'll kind of creative actually conducted the u_s_ t_w_a_ laura palmer
are
at the forefront of mysore co coalition of making change of wal-mart which
includes
so that the other like the national organization of women in the national
consumer in the end
who pledged to be very you know anecdotally there are plenty of occupy
activist who find this extremely exciting whether he heard of the
audience orchid so i think
ewbal ball what we don't know is those countries sixty workers who went on
strike
how many coworkers can immobilize beyond
i think we can be completed that they will have plenty of community support
their west highland black right
made be going their pain
alike mickelson pennies for
syllabi
the by a stereo system paid for all in pennies on uh... black friday
well other josh thanks rick catching us up on this uh... fascinating stuff i
appreciate your
you've taken the time